what is it with me!??

Let me start from the beginning. I have always been fit and healthy and never overweight, although my mother has always been overweight. It started ppossibly when i was about 33, i am now 36. I started to gain weight not very much at first, but i noticed that i had a roll there. I became forgetful when i had always had a good memory, I would go upstairs for something and when i got to the top i forgot what it was i wanted. My memory is now quite bad but i remember things from years ago. I am very tired and lethargic, i have no energy, i am cold alot of the time and i fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I was always a light sleeper and now i cant wake up well at all. I am divorced and i have a daughter. I am a happy kind of person quite upbeat and intelligent.I have more aches and pains than i ever have, i know im 36 but surely age is not going to put all this upon me so quickly. So now my weight gain, i cannot shift it. I am a healthy eater, veg, pasta rice and all of the healthy food,plus vitamins for the ones i dont get in my food intake and i exercise 5 days a week, with aerobics, swimming, cycling and walking my dog, so i know i am getting enough exercise. I have started to take pro plus to keep me awake, i only take two a day, because i do not drink tea or coffee, and i do not drink fizzy pop either, i just drink water or a dilutable cordial, min. 2lts a day.(pink grapefruit, yummy)Dont get me wrong i do eat chocolate,but i have cut it down a fair bit. I drink slcohol at the weekends. I am happy in my life, because i have now found a wonderful man and i have changed my hours at work so i finish no later than 8pm, (im a telephone operator) I also have my own business i am a qualified sports therapist and reflexologist, so i know what it is i need. I just have no motivation. I am going to see a counsellor too and a nutritionist as my dr told me to.She also told me im stressed. I have had blood tests i am a little low on my platelets, and my thyroid is fine, could it be that my metabalism is just too slow? I am fed up with doing all my exercising with no result when clearly there should be. The main area of my fat is in most cases with women belly, buttocks and thighs. I am only 5.2 and i weigh 174lbs i need help please!!!!
many thanks
Sara:) (u.k.)

If you want to answer a Candida/Leaky Gut Questionnaire that I email to those who want to help themselves - it might "ALERT" me as to why you are having these over wieght problems so contact me at (alternative.health@verizon.net)if you want me to email you a Questionnaire!

Hi , Oh my god do you sound like me. I am 38 now and I too am 5.2 and I weighed 165 after my 3rd child which was 11 years ago, I use to weigh 105 so I knew I was very over weight and I too was tired all the time and my memory was short I tried all diets and the one that worked for me is the atkins diet which I am still on I am now at 130 in 3 months and still loseing. I figure I cant have sugar when I do I get tired and craby. I think I might have a alergy to it. But since I been on the atkins diet I feel great and my eating habits are much better I have so much energy. now I know some people dont believe in atkins but it worked for me. Also I had my blook work done 2 weeks ago and everything looks great the doctor said my cholesterol was normal not high and my blood presure was slightly low, but I always had low blood presure. so maybe consider a differnt diet and maybe Walt can recommend something else. good luck but as for my memory now thats still lacking I think because the stress in my life which I am working on so I think it will take some time .

Stress is all around us more and there are more and more toxins on the planet and we are all trying to elimnate as many as we can, but it will take keep on keepng on in the health area. If i were you i would get on that mini trampoline and bounce at least 15 min. a day and blow out and rub your lympthatics on your chest; You also might have parasites and need a few colonics or enima's at this time. Sounds like your heading to the right people who will help you find that however. Backing up on the carbs can also help the parasites to die, nothing to feed on. Watch out on the sugars. Look into drinking more water and eating less also!

I also have the same things you wrote about. I have been practicing the things on this BB for a short time with no loss of weight yet. I do feel better, but still tired and cold. Currently taking some CMO for tendonitis. Trying the different things in the archives hoping for results. DId the Pepto thing. I will watch the answers you get to see if they will help me also. Just know you aren't alone. These people share a lot of experience and knowledge. I have been blessed more than once just by reading the daily posts.

People will say I'm crazy but it sounds like
perimenopause to me. Have you had your female
hormones tested? Are you having regular cycles?
Weight gain (especially around the middle),
forgetfullness, feeling cold and tired etc,. are all typical
symptoms of the decline of female hormones. It can
seem sudden, and also a lot of the most noticeable
changes in the body (like dry skin, loss of collagen,
weight etc) happen early on when hormones decline,
so it seems like you are aging all at once.

The good news is that the advice on this board,
especially the dietary recommendations (whole foods
diet and no sugar or simple carbs) will improve things
considerably. If that is not enough, there are all sorts of
natural hormone options now for the peri time and if
you find the right one for you, you can feel good again.

When I was 36 I hit a wall too. Just felt awful even
though I had always been "healthy" by most people's
standards. No energy, bad PMS, stomach problems,
panic attacks and all sorts of strange things started
happening. With the help of this board I am a new
woman one year later. It takes discipline and faith, but
you will feel better if you take the proper steps.

Sara, If you are a telephone operator, I would almost bet all your problems are stress related. I was a phone person for 30 years and had all of the problems you are mentioning. I did not realize until I left and found this board it was all stress related. (sleepiness, weight gain and the whole story) In one year of sr and candida treatment and following a good diet, drinking lots of water a day I lost 30 lbs and have had no problem keeping it off. When I was 45 I felt 75 and now I am 55 and feel like I am 35. Stress will really make you gain weight among other things. It just throws your body out of kilter. I started it all with a trampoline like Terri-lynn suggested. You can heal yourself but it is not a easy road. Good luck

THYROID! It's tricky, so don't rule it out so quickly, even if your TSH is in the "normal" range. Go to Mary Shomon's website(Google search)and read her personal story, it sounds just like yours. She has many good articles, has written a book, and has a discussion board. You'll learn that a normal TSH for some can be too high for others.
What is your TSH? Also, read upon on morning temperature taking.

EVERYONE who has already posted has excellent information for you. I feel happily superfluous.

You may need a local complementary physician to help you diagnose exactly where you are and how to most efficiently climb out of the hole in which you find yourself. Find one by contacting the Functional Medicine Institute and getting a list of those physicians in your country that have subscribed to their service for at least 2 years. Their website is at healthcomm.com and their phone # is (253)- 851-3943.

Let us know what you learn, in the meantime the biggest thing you are missing is SR (see the home page, glossary and archives for getting started). It sounds like the other 2 legs of your wellness stool are not too shaky.

I wholeheartedly agree with Saromi...
they often say it's "normal" when it is far from... what IS your TSH? Get copies of all your lab results. It should be close to 1 not anywhere near 5, where they will often say it is still normal... check out the page recommended by Saromi it has excellent info. Dr. Stoll is wise in what he says - his advice is VALUABLE

hello a, and thank you for your reply. I dont mean to be rude, but i am English and i have not heard of the atkins diet, so i would be very grateful if you could direct me in the way of it, i am willing to give anything a go. I dont eat sugar, only that which is naturally in the food.
Congratulations on the weight loss, you have done so well, keep up the good work.
Take care
Sara:)

Thank you for your suggestions, and to be honest it sounds so like me. The only problem is that i had the hormone for the menopause done and i am not in it as yet. Althought the signs are what you are describing, i ythink i may got to an herbalist to see what they can suggest, or if youhave any suggestions I would be very grateful. Once again thank you for your post.
Sara:)

thank you for your reply, and i agree with you about my job, but maybe the downside is that i love the job too. I do have a mini trampoline and i may dig it out of the attic and give it another whirl.
Sara:)